Zhou Mo said, “Use three words to describe me.”
Sitting across from him, Suo Yang took a sip of coffee and thought for a moment. “Handsome, sexy, classy.”
Zhou Mo nodded in satisfaction. “Very good. I’m very pleased.”
Suo Yang looked at him and smiled helplessly. “That guy’s here again.”
When Zhou Mo turned his head, he saw a man walking toward them—white shirt, suit pants, a briefcase in hand.
“Sigh, I’m really in a dilemma,” Zhou Mo said with a smile. “Being too popular is such a burden.”
The man walking toward them was named Cheng Sen. They had met on a plane.
Zhou Mo and Suo Yang were both flight attendants of the same airline. When they first joined, a senior colleague had asked them why they chose this profession.
Suo Yang said it was because he liked flying, while Zhou Mo’s answer was much more blunt, “The uniform looks cool.”
The two of them entered the airline together and have always had the best relationship. They have been sharing a house since they started working. They are colleagues, roommates, and good brothers.
But their personalities couldn’t be more different.
Suo Yang was always pleasantly polite in social situations. He was on good terms with everyone, but never deeply close to anyone except Zhou Mo. He rarely joined group activities and kept a certain distance: a pseudo-warm guy, and a real iceberg.
Zhou Mo, on the other hand, was the company’s acknowledged social butterfly. Not long after joining, he had already got to know everyone well—upstairs and downstairs, men and women alike. He was good-looking, silver-tongued, and naturally popular.
Both of them were popular—not just with coworkers but also with passengers.
The man approaching them now was one such passenger pursuing Zhou Mo.
His name was Cheng Sen, a small-time boss at a startup.
‘Small-time boss’ sounded nice, but with the word ‘startup’ attached, it meant the business wasn’t very big, had only a handful of employees, and didn’t have much capital either. Guys like that were often more exhausted than ordinary office workers.
The two of them met on the plane.
Zhou Mo really was good-looking. He drew attention wherever he stood. Add the flight attendant uniform, and it was almost impossible not to notice him.
On flights, he often got hit on. Some people directly stuffed business cards into his pocket. Zhou Mo looked like a player, but in reality, he had clear boundaries. He knew exactly what those people wanted.
A fleeting encounter on a plane usually meant a brief, exciting fling—each taking what they wanted, giving what they needed. Once satisfied, they went their separate ways.
Zhou Mo had seen plenty of that.
But that was never the kind of life he wanted.
He enjoyed being admired and pursued, but he also had his principles.
He kept all those business cards like trophies. After each flight, when he got home, he would put them into a small metal box. Whenever his confidence dipped, he would take the box out, admire its contents, and recharge his ‘energy’.
As for Cheng Sen, he really was different from the others.
The first time they met was when Cheng Sen boarded the plane.
Zhou Mo was standing at the cabin entrance, greeting passengers when Cheng Sen came on, frowning, talking on the phone, and looking for his seat.
Zhou Mo had a sharp radar for handsome men. After all, who didn’t like looking at good-looking guys?
Cheng Sen was handsome, but in a completely different style from Zhou Mo.
That day, Cheng Sen looked exhausted, like he hadn’t slept for days. Even his shirt was wrinkled. He looked exactly like those pitifully handsome men in Japanese dramas—burned out from struggling through life.
Zhou Mo took the initiative to help him find his seat, then lingered nearby, sneaking glances whenever he could.
He overheard Cheng Sen talking about work, and it was about some project that had run into trouble and caused a mess.
Zhou Mo thought that the world wasn’t particularly kind to handsome men either. Look at those dark circles—life’s really been rough on the handsome men.
That day, Zhou Mo kept stealing looks at the guy. By the end of the flight, he felt oddly refreshed and content.
Meanwhile, Cheng Sen hadn’t noticed Zhou Mo at all. He didn’t remember him in the slightest.
At the time, one of Cheng Sen’s projects had gone wrong. He was overwhelmed, closed his eyes to catch some sleep after takeoff, and once the plane landed, went straight back to work.
But Zhou Mo couldn’t stop thinking about him.
Later, for several nights in a row, Zhou Mo even fantasised about that face while ‘comforting himself’ before sleep.
In their line of work, they met countless people of all kinds. But most were just fleeting encounters—once missed, they were gone forever.
So when Zhou Mo saw Cheng Sen a second time, he suddenly felt that maybe—just maybe—there really was some kind of fate between them.
That day, there weren’t many passengers on the flight. While handing out meals, Zhou Mo deliberately chatted a bit more with Cheng Sen.
That day, Cheng Sen had just wrapped up a project, and his company had officially started turning a profit. His complexion looked better, his mood was good, and he responded to Zhou Mo a few times.
During the three-plus-hour flight, Cheng Sen occasionally saw Zhou Mo walking through the cabin. Sometimes, when he looked up, his gaze would coincidentally meet Zhou Mo’s.
Later, Zhou Mo would say, “That was mutual flirting—exchanging glances in secret. Two people who are meant to be together can understand each other’s eyes even if they don’t know each other’s names.”
But Cheng Sen said, “I knew your name back then. You were wearing a name badge.”
Anyway, after getting off the plane that day, Zhou Mo ran into Cheng Sen again. This time, it wasn’t a coincidence, but it was because Cheng Sen had deliberately waited there.
That day, Cheng Sen was in the city on vacation. With his project finished, he had given himself two days off, planning to rest properly by himself.
But because of Zhou Mo, his plans changed a little.
They only had a meal together. Both of them harboured improper thoughts toward the other, yet neither said anything outright.
They ate together, then walked along the seaside of the city, stepping on soft sand.
Before they parted, Cheng Sen wrote his phone number in Zhou Mo’s palm.
The sea breeze tousled Cheng Sen’s hair. As he lowered his head to write the number, Zhou Mo kept watching him.
Once Cheng Sen finished, Zhou Mo glanced at it and quickly memorised the digits.
Zhou Mo closed his hand and smiled at Cheng Sen. “I can’t guarantee I’ll call you.”
Cheng Sen smiled too. “That’s fine. I’ll wait.”
*I’ll wait.
A week later, Cheng Sen really did receive a call from Zhou Mo.
The two of them played with ambiguity.
They ate together, went shopping, and watched movies.
No confession. No hand-holding. And, of course, no sex.
Zhou Mo liked this unhurried way of getting along. It made him feel steady and at ease.
He had met far too many people who approached him with clear ulterior motives. Those people bluntly said they wanted to sleep with him and told him to name his price.
Sometimes Zhou Mo found it laughable. He wasn’t selling himself, so what were these people thinking?
This so-called ‘sincerity’ was something he wanted no part of.
Cheng Sen, on the other hand, was genuinely attractive to him.
They ate at ordinary restaurants where a meal cost about a hundred per person. Sometimes they wandered around for an entire afternoon without buying anything. When they went to the movies, they simply watched the movie. Afterwards, Zhou Mo liked quietly listening to Cheng Sen share his thoughts.
It was this kind of ordinary, uneventful companionship that made Zhou Mo feel himself being drawn closer and closer to Cheng Sen.
Occasionally, there were unexpected moments of physical contact.
Outside of work, Zhou Mo was always careless. Once in an underground parking garage, he couldn’t remember where they had parked and subconsciously followed the person in front of him—only to be grabbed by the wrist and pulled back by Cheng Sen.
It was just a light grip, but Zhou Mo instantly felt as if electricity ran through his body, the tips of his ears flushing red.
Zhou Mo had always thought that this kind of heart-fluttering feeling belonged only to teenagers—pure, naive boys and girls. As people grew older, they became more rational and realistic. In the adult world, it was incredibly rare to be moved purely because of one person.
Yet Cheng Sen gave him exactly that rare feeling.
It surprised even Zhou Mo himself.
But he had to admit he liked it. In those days of slowly getting to know each other, inching closer little by little, life became much more interesting.
During that period, Zhou Mo spent far less time with Suo Yang. Whenever he had free time, he went to see Cheng Sen.
Suo Yang asked him, “Are you in a relationship?”
Zhou Mo smiled. “Do I look like I’m in a relationship?”
Suo Yang nodded, but Zhou Mo said, “Not yet. We’re in an ambiguous stage.”
At the time, Suo Yang couldn’t understand the ambiguity, especially one that dragged on for so long. He felt that if two people liked each other, they should just confirm the relationship decisively. If they hesitated, it meant they didn’t like each other enough, and they should each find someone they liked more.
Of course, later on, Suo Yang came to understand that in relationships, many things aren’t simply black or white. Sometimes this kind of push-and-pull ambiguity has its own unique charm.
In short, they flirted from summer all the way into winter. Finally, when they made plans to spend New Year’s Eve together, Cheng Sen couldn’t hold back anymore.
That night, the two of them were wearing thick down jackets, standing amid the crowd.
They had followed the trend and gone to a small city park to count down the New Year with everyone else. The crowd was packed tight. Even though it was a bitterly cold winter night, the sheer number of people left them sweating.
Just as the countdown was about to start, Cheng Sen suddenly said to Zhou Mo beside him, “I want to hold your hand.”
“What?” Zhou Mo didn’t hear him clearly and turned to ask.
At that moment, the countdown began. The noise was overwhelming, making it even harder for them to hear each other.
Cheng Sen decided not to say anything more. He suddenly leaned in, their noses touching.
Zhou Mo smiled, lifted his chin slightly, and their lips met.
Just like that, amid the New Year’s chimes and the crowd’s cheers, the two of them kissed while pressed together in the mass of people, then intertwined their fingers.
People around them were watching—watching two grown men kissing in public.
But they didn’t care. This was something worth celebrating.
That night, Zhou Mo went home with Cheng Sen. It was the first time he had gone to Cheng Sen’s place after such a long period of ambiguity between them.
At the time, Cheng Sen really didn’t have much money. All his funds were tied up in the company, and he was living in an old apartment in the suburbs, paying just over a thousand in rent each month.
He opened the door and let Zhou Mo in.
Cheng Sen asked, “Do you feel wronged?”
Zhou Mo sat on the bed, unzipped his down jacket, and asked with a smile, “What should I feel wronged about?”
Cheng Sen walked over, hung the jacket in the wardrobe for him, then came back and squatted by his legs.
“Actually, people in your line of work can find partners with pretty good conditions.”
“Yeah,” Zhou Mo said. “Of course we can. Even fifty-year-old rich men have tried handing me their business cards.”
Cheng Sen squatted there, looking at him and smiling without saying anything.
“But I didn’t take any of the opportunities they offered,” Zhou Mo said proudly with a grin. “So now I’ve met the partner with the best conditions.”
They both understood what the other meant. Zhou Mo wrapped his arms around Cheng Sen.
“You’re the best one for me.”
The best?
Later, people would ask Zhou Mo why he chose Cheng Sen among so many pursuers back then.
Zhou Mo would say, “First of all, there weren’t that many pursuers.”
Among those so-called pursuers, some truly tried to court him, but the vast majority sought only physical satisfaction, not genuine interest in him as a person.
Zhou Mo himself was quite puzzled about it. He didn’t know why he seemed to attract that kind of person so easily.
Fortunately, he wasn’t someone who would lose his way. By pushing aside those toxic flowers, he discovered the most precious gem hidden behind them.
That gem was Cheng Sen.
“Secondly, it wasn’t that I chose Cheng Sen, it was that we chose each other.”
Love is mutual. Two hearts are drawn to each other involuntarily.
If someone insisted on asking why it had to be Cheng Sen, even Zhou Mo himself couldn’t really answer.
“Lastly,” Zhou Mo said, “there’s no reason. If you ask, the answer is fate.”
Over the years, Cheng Sen’s career flourished more and more. Zhou Mo changed careers and left the airline industry, finding a job that suited him well. The two of them got married abroad and had long since moved into a spacious, luxuriously renovated home. They could dine at high-end restaurants and buy custom-made suits.
But they would never forget that they met when both of them were at the starting points of their careers. Back then, Cheng Sen’s company was so small it was practically a workshop, and Zhou Mo was nothing more than an ordinary flight attendant working domestic economy-class routes.
They witnessed each other’s growth and accompanied one another from the lowest points all the way to the peak.
When they first got together, neither of them thought in terms of ‘blue-chip stock’ or ‘potential stock’. Everything was fate, everything was luck. It was only after choosing love that they realised that, after working hard, they could also have material comfort.
Years passed. Zhou Mo still loved to play around and make noise, while Cheng Sen would sit nearby, smiling as he watched him.
When they travelled by plane, they rarely flew economy class anymore. Occasionally, they would happen to be on Suo Yang’s flight. Watching Suo Yang go from domestic to international routes, from economy class to first class over the years, Zhou Mo would sigh at how fast time had passed.
Time really had flown by.
He and Cheng Sen had been in love for so long now.
Come to think of it, their story began thirty thousand feet in the air. The look they exchanged during that flight all those years ago was still vividly clear in his memory.
The same look back then.
Later, when Zhou Mo came out to his family, and Cheng Sen was beaten black and blue by Zhou Mo’s father, it was still that unwavering look in his eyes as he looked at Zhou Mo.
Later still, when they were travelling abroad, and Cheng Sen suddenly knelt on one knee and took out a ring to propose, his eyes were filled with love.
And now, every morning when they woke up, there was that same sleepy yet smiling look.
All of it made Zhou Mo feel that there could never be a better choice than Cheng Sen.
That first time they met, the handsome man whose face was full of exhaustion from work was the best love fate had ever given him.
=================
“Getting up?”
“Let’s sleep a little longer,” Zhou Mo said. “We’re meeting Qian Xiaoke this afternoon. He said he and Jiang Tongyan brought back some free-range chickens from their hometown for us.”
“Alright,” Cheng Sen said as he pulled the blanket over and wrapped Zhou Mo up snugly. “Then let’s sleep some more. I’ll go with you this afternoon to see the two of them.”
[The End]
Author’s note:
It’s finished, it’s finished—this one is truly, completely finished now.
T/N:
Hopefully I can get to another series I’ve been eyeing soon~
Since the author doesn’t have any intention to make Cheng Sen and Zhou Mo pair a stand alone series, this series concluded their universe~
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